Cuban Rum Cake Recipe

Cuban Rum Cake is similar in texture to tres leches cake. This dessert features a wide range of flavors and textures from the sweet meringue, to a more mild, moist cake, to a creamy custard finish. As the name implies, this dessert is very popular in Cuba but can also be found throughout the Caribbean as its main ingredients of coconut milk, sugar, and rum are readily available throughout the region.

Recommended Equipment:
9 x 2 round cake pan
stand mixer

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tspn baking powder
1 1/2 cups light (winter) flour
1 tspn baking soda
pinch of salt
1/4 cup coconut milk, unsweetened
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 tspn pure vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp.
2 eggs, room temp.
2 tbsp light rum (optional)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Butter the round 9 x 2 cake pan and lightly dust with flour.
3. In a mixing bowl, mix the baking powder, flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. In another mixing bowl, combine the coconut milk, butter milk, vanilla, and rum.
5. In a third bowl, using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and creamy.
6. Add the eggs one at a time to the butter and sugar mixture as you mix at low speed.
7. Next, slowly add 1/3 of the dry flour mixture to the egg and butter mixture continuing to mix at low speed.
8. Add 1/3 of the milk mixture while you continue to mix at low speed.
9. Repeat steps #7 and #8 two more times, until all of the ingredients have been mixed into the batter.
10. Pour the batter into the round cake pan and smooth out the top surface so that it is flat.
11. Bake for 40 minutes. The cake should be golden brown and if you insert a fork into the top of the cake it should come out clean.
12. Let the cake cool in the pan for 20 minutes. The center of the cake may be slightly lower than the perimeter. This is normal.
13. Then turn the cake out onto a wire rack and let it cool completely.
14. Wrap the cake in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
15. Using a long serrated knife, cut the cake in half horizontally like a hamburger bun.
16. Place the top of the cake (cut side up) on to a cake plate or in a large pie dish. I used a pie dish because this cake will be filled with custard that can run off of a plate when the cake is cut.
17. Remove some of the cake form the center of the cake that you just placed in the dish.
18. Fill the hollow center with a generous portion of Natilla Cuban Custard.
19. Place the other half of the cake on top.
20. Cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate for another hour.
21. Top with meringue.
    

Cuba

Meringue Icing Recipe

This recipe for Meringue Icing can be used with the Cuban Rum Cake recipe. However, this recipe makes alot of Meringue Icing so if you are using it for the Cuban Rum Cake, you may want to make 1/2 of this recipe.

Recommended Equipment:
stand mixer

Ingredients:
3 egg whites - save the egg yolks if you are going to make the Natilla for the Cuban Rum Cake.
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/4 tspn salt
1 tspn vanilla extract
1/2 tspn lemon extract

Preparation:

1. In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites at high speed until white peaks begin to appear.
2. In a saucepan, combine the sugar, water, and salt. Cook over medium heat. Stir frequently until mixture begins to boil.
3. Pour the hot mixture in a narrow stream onto the egg whites while beating the egg whites at high speed. Continue to beat the mixture until stiff white peaks appear.
4. Mix in the vanilla extract and lemon extract.

France

Gluten-Free Chocolate Muffins Recipe

Sexy delicious gluten-free vegan chocolate muffins.

Today is all about muffins. Yes, muffins. And not just any muffins. Chocolate muffins worthy of a story.

Chapter 1.

The morning was cool and bright. It was going to be one of those quintessential Cape Cod autumn days. A day tourists swoon over. Worthy of a post card with The weather is sublime- wish you were here scrawled in black gel cursive between sips of a Hot Chocolate Sparrow latte. The sky was a cake bowl of cobalt blue with that particular pink edge to it that only painters notice, the blush that softened the tree line at the north end of the West Barnstable marsh gentling the heavy greens of the pines and oaks into a bluish, almost violet gray. 

She brushed her teeth with fennel toothpaste and spit into the low slung sink, pausing to breathe. A long inhale to slow her heart. The cottage was pin drop quiet. The boys had climbed the rubber lined steps into the school bus hours ago, peanut butter and honey sandwiches bagged, milk money in their pockets. She had waved from the street and watched them navigate the bus aisle in shadow, avoiding her maternal gaze, not turning to wave back. Too risky, she understood.

Continue reading

Last Minute Valentine's Day Dinner Ideas: Keep it Simple Cupid!

"Cupid's Span" Photo (c) grahamc99

We're not going to judge you, much. Sure, you had weeks to plan a nice dinner for that special someone, but you waited until today to actually figure out what you're going to serve. And, since you don't really know how to cook, you're now panicking wondering what you can possibly pull off without a practice run. Nice going.

Relax, we have you covered. Here are some very sexy main course ideas that can be pulled off by even the most inexperienced cooks and lovers (those two things usually go hand in hand). Just click on the recipe's title, and you'll be swept away to the original post, where the rest will be up to you and cupid.

I want to wish you all a very happy Valentine's Day. Remember, food IS love. Enjoy!

Pistachio Crusted Rack of Lamb

Besides all the great opportunities for double entendres using the word "rack," this is a simple piece of meat to cook. If you're lucky enough to have a Valentine's date that enjoys a nice big piece of red meat, this is a fabulous choice. 

Also, one rack makes two perfectly sized portions, which will work out nicely unless you have some things planned we don't know about. And if you do, please keep them to yourself.

Garlic Ginger Salmon

I use this amazingly simplistic sauce on a piece of grilled salmon in the video, but it will work for any cooking method. If you are comfortable pan searing or broiling a piece of fish, this super sexy sauce will take it (and maybe you) to another place. 

I get so many emails about how much people love this recipe – so you can go forward with confidence. By the way, confidence is a proven aphrodisiac.

Penne Pasta with Spicy Sausage Ragu

This bowl of pasta passion is so easy, so delicious, and so satisfying, you'll forget your trying to make someone fall in love with you. Which is perfect since that always makes it much more likely to happen. 

Be sure to find out if your date likes spicy foods before pulling out the sausage for this recipe. It can also be made with milder, sweet Italian sausage. Another tip: buy and use Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, to show them you're serious.

Spicy Shrimp and Grits

Shrimp and grits is a very simple recipe, as long as you get all your prep done before you start cooking. The shrimp only take a few minutes to sauté, so you don't have time to run around chopping scallions or juicing lemons. 

Once everything is assembled, this recipe is a snap. You can make the grits a bit ahead, since they stay hot a very long time – [insert your own special Valentine's "they stay hot a very long time" reference here!]

A Bonus Valentine's Day Video from Food Currated!

This gorgeous video is from my very talented friend Liza de Guia, and features Matt and Allison Robicelli, from Robicelli’s Cupcakes in New York City. Be sure to check out the full blog post here! Enjoy!

Sloppy Joe Recipe

The Sloppy Joe sandwich was invented in the United States over a hundred years ago. However, there is no consensus on the exact location where it originated. Most say that it was first served in a bar in Key West, Florida. Others say that it was first prepared in Sioux City, Iowa by a chef named Joe.

This Sloppy Joe recipe gets the traditional tomato base from the ketchup. The pepper, onion, sugar, and cloves give this sandwich a taste that is a perfect combination of sweet and savory.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tspn ground cloves
1 tbsp dry mustard
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tspn salt
1 cup ketchup

Preparation:

1. In a large pot, brown the ground beef over medium heat.
2. Add all of the other ingredients to the pot.
3. Cover the pot and cook on low for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
4. Serve on your favorite type of roll.

United States

Valentine's Day Chocolate Mocha Pot de Crème - Now, What's for Breakfast?

Easy "no-bake" chocolate mocha pot de creme

The real goal of any hot Valentine's Day date isn't to make a great dinner; it's to make a great breakfast for that same person the next day. With that in mind, we're going to need something a little richer, sexier, and more decadent than usual.

Luckily, richer, sexier, and more decadent is exactly what this chocolate mocha pot de crème recipe is all about. Sure, it's basically just a soft, coffee-flavored chocolate ganache, but when you serve it out of those cute little demitasse cups, top it with some thickened cream, and dust it with cocoa to simulate a petite cappuccino, there's nothing basic about it.

On a less romantic note, let me make a little disclaimer about this dessert's composition. If you make it with other types of chocolate, other dairy products, or other sweeteners, I can't be held responsible for it's aphrodisiacal effects.

I'm sort of a one trick pony when it comes to this stuff, so without sounding too lazy, if you're wondering about the difference between 70% and 85% chocolate, or if half and half will work instead, you should probably Google a reliable source. Or better yet, just make it exactly like this – it was really good.

Having said that, you are certainly free to put your own subtle flavoring twists on this, like a bit of orange zest instead of coffee, or as I joke about in the video, a little pinch of cayenne. I really hope you give this a try for Valentines Day, and good luck with that breakfast. Enjoy!

Here is the same video embeded with Vimeo for our European friends who can't view though YouTube!

Ingredients for 4 Chocolate Mocha Pots de Crème

4 oz bittersweet chocolate, cut into very small pieces (as small as corn kernels)

1/2 teaspoon instant coffee

very tiny pinch of salt

1 cup heavy cream

3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Next Up: Chocolate Mocha Pot de Creme